The United Arab Emirates have made a massive investment of 4 million solar panels which is now the largest single sight solar farm on the planet. 

The project uses the 4 million solar panels that have cost an approximate $1 billion. The panels are expected to power 200,000 homes across the country. The farm’s capacity is 2 giga watts. This farm is also great for the environment and will eliminate 2.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year. The panels are bifacial which means that both sides of them absorb sunlight, increasing the amount of solar power produced. 

The solar farm is located outside of Abu Dhabi, the second most populated city in the United Arab Emirates. This makes it a highly important farm for many people in the country and will be a substantial cut down on natural gas use in the nation. The location of the farm is in the desert outside of the city meaning it did not need deforestation or displace many types of wildlife, and it is so dry that there are few clouds or cloudy days to blot out the sun meaning that other than at night the panels are always producing. The location of the UAE being near the equator means that the days are a pretty similar amount of time throughout the year so the production will be consistent. 

There are many advantages to using solar panels instead of fossil fuel alternatives like coal and natural gas. Solar panels are made by melting down sulfuric sand into a photovoltaic cell. A photovoltaic cell is the part of the solar panel that converts the light energy from the sun into electricity. It would cost about $20,000 to buy solar panels to put onto the top of your house and have it completely power it. There is money made back from this because you no longer need to pay for your electricity and any extra power put back into the grid will give tax breaks.